Metastasized stomach cancer is an extremely dangerous and insidious disease that is very difficult to detect in its early stages. Nausea and pain in the abdomen may indicate the development of an ulcer or gastritis, so people with such diagnoses may not always suspect a more serious pathology. And in some cases, stomach cancer appears without any symptoms at all. There is only one way out - if you want to protect yourself, regularly undergo gastroscopy and give up bad habits.
What is this disease
Stomach cancer begins with a mucosal lesion, and then metastases appear quite quickly, which cover nearby organs, sometimes even the lungs. In Russia, pathology is rarely diagnosed at an early stage, partly due to the lack of experience among doctors and the lack of medical equipment, partly due to the fault of the people themselves, who stubbornly refuse to take care of their he alth. As a result, gastric cancer with metastases ranks second in oncology patient mortality: about 12% of men and 10% of women die from it.
In terms of prevalence, inIn Russia, gastric cancer is in fifth place among oncological pathologies. According to statistics, the incidence rate is approximately 28%. Much more often, pathology is diagnosed in men. Moreover, the majority of cases are over the age of fifty. The only consolation is that in recent years, the incidence rate has begun to fall.
Cancer can cover different parts of the stomach - upper, lower and middle. Usually, the appearance of a tumor is preceded by precancerous conditions, which are accompanied by a change in the structure and functions of cells inside the organ. As a result, polyps, an ulcer, a chronic form of gastritis with low acidity appear.
Pathology is characterized by an increased tendency to the early appearance of many distant foci. In gastric cancer, metastases most often affect the liver and lymph nodes. In addition, the lungs, brain, and muscle tissue may be involved in the pathological process. With its development, the activity of many vital organs is disrupted, which, as a result, leads to the death of the patient.
How long do people live with stomach cancer with metastases? On average, the life of a person with such a diagnosis is reduced by about 15 years. But this indicator is individual and depends, for the most part, on the timeliness of diagnosis and the start of treatment.
Doctors give rather favorable prognosis regarding survival of a tumor in the stomach, if the pathology is diagnosed in the early stages. In such situations, after a course of therapy, survivalreaches 5 years or more. But with stomach cancer with grade 4 metastases, the prognosis is not so rosy. Patients with this diagnosis usually do not live longer than 2-3 years.
Causes of disease
Until now, specific prerequisites for the development of cancer are not known. But one thing can be said for sure: the abnormal degeneration of cells does not occur suddenly. This requires the presence of other pathologies and the sequential or parallel influence of provoking factors on the stomach.
In people suffering from diseases of the digestive tract, cancer can arise against the background of reflux gastritis, which appears on the background of the release of alkaline contents from the duodenum into the stomach. In addition, the likelihood of the appearance of a tumor increases many times after 5-10 years after surgery in the tissues of the organ.
There are other reasons for the development of gastric cancer with metastases. They can be found individually and in the whole complex.
- Helicobacter pylori. Doctors have long proven that this infection, which can survive in an acidic environment, is often the original cause of ulcers and gastritis. And according to statistics, it is these diseases that often lead to the onset of cancer. The bacterium injures the mucous membrane, due to which the hydrochloric acid present in the gastric juice affects the unprotected structures and walls of the organ. As a result, ulceration and erosion occur in the stomach. Long-standing ulcers provide a favorable environment for the development of cancer cells.
- Eating certain foods. Excessive amount in the menu of fried, smoked,fatty, spicy, canned and s alty at times increases the likelihood of cancer. According to numerous studies, in countries where this pathology is most common, people consume too many starchy foods. Lack of diet, frequent overeating, especially at bedtime, fast, rare snacks - all this systematically overloads and weakens the stomach, leading to the development of various diseases.
- Ingestion of nitrites and nitrates. These components, which have chemical activity, can damage the gastric mucosa, penetrating into the cell structure and provoking their degeneration. Sources of nitrates and nitrites are most often ordinary vegetables. The increased content of chemicals harmful to the human body is associated with the use of nitrogen fertilizers and other errors in the cultivation process. True, harmful substances can also be found in beer, tobacco, dried and smoked foods, cheeses and even cosmetics.
- Drinking and smoking. In addition to the fact that alcohol contains all the same nitrites and nitrates, ethyl alcohol is considered a strong provocateur of cancer, which causes acute erosive processes in the stomach cavity. As for smoking, its destructive effect has been repeatedly proven: the longer a person abuses cigarettes, the higher the risk of developing stomach cancer.
- Long-term use of medications. Anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics andcorticosteroids.
- Influence of radiation. Abnormal cell degeneration is often associated with radioactive exposure.
The risk group includes people who are obese, have undergone surgery on the digestive tract, have tumors in other organs or a genetic predisposition to the disease.
What causes cancer
As already mentioned, the tumor does not appear spontaneously. It is always preceded by some kind of disease. All these pathologies have a detrimental effect on the gastric mucosa, causing the appearance of an epithelium that is not characteristic of this organ.
- Polyps. They degenerate into a malignant neoplasm in about 30-50% of all cases.
- Anemia due to lack of vitamin B12. This element plays an important role in the formation of all cells, and especially the tissues of the stomach.
- Chronic gastritis. Some types of this pathology can provoke cell death. And Menetrier's disease leads to abnormal growth of the epithelium.
- Ulcer. The frequency of its transition to the tumor is 5-12%.
First symptoms of pathology
In the early stages, stomach cancer is almost impossible to notice, especially if it occurs against the background of an ulcer. But if you are attentive to your he alth, you can still detect pathology in time.
Stomach cancer at any stage has signs that are characteristic of any oncology:
- rapid fatigue;
- chronic weakness;
- weight loss for no apparent reason.
In addition, other symptoms may indicate the development of the pathological process:
- discomfort in the stomach area after a meal, such as bloating or a feeling of fullness;
- frequent nausea, slight salivation, vomiting;
- dull, aching or pulling pain in the affected area - may appear after eating or regardless of food intake;
- loss of appetite for no apparent reason;
- frequent heartburn, difficulty swallowing liquids and food;
- vomiting stagnant or bloody foods, as well as black liquid stools, is a reason to call the emergency room.
Stages
Doctors distinguish 4 stages of stomach cancer with metastases. The higher the degree of development of the anomaly, the easier it is to identify the pathology, the more intense the symptoms and the less chance the patient has of survival.
- Zero stage. With this disease, only the mucous membrane is affected. In this case, cancer treatment may be limited to endoscopic intervention under anesthesia. Usually, the further forecast is almost always favorable.
- 1 stage. The tumor penetrates deeper and contributes to the formation of metastases in the lymph nodes around the organ. The survival rate at this stage reaches about 70-80%, however, such cancer is found very rarely.
- 2 stage. The neoplasm does not cover only the muscle tissue of the organ, there are always metastases in the lymph nodes. The 5-year survival rate for this grade of cancer is approximately 56%.
- 3stage. Not only the walls of the stomach, but also the lymph nodes are involved in the pathological process. This pathology is diagnosed quite often. That's just a survival rate of 5 years in such a situation occurs only in 20-38% of people.
- 4 stage. Gastric cancer with metastases that are detected in the pancreas, peritoneum, large vessels, ovaries, liver and even lungs. Survival of 5 years occurs in only 5% of patients. Unfortunately, stage 4 stomach cancer with metastases is diagnosed most often.
As you can see, the picture is quite frightening. Even a complete cure does not always bring a positive prognosis: stomach cancer with metastases is prone to recurrence, which cannot always be eliminated by surgical intervention.
Features of metastasis
Gastric cancer is accompanied by the rapid occurrence of metastases in different organs. There are two main ways of metastasis - hematogenous and lymphogenous.
Metastases that spread through the lymphatic system have their own names:
- Schnitzler - to pararectal lymph nodes.
- Virchow - in the supraclavicular region.
- Iris - in the axillary lymph nodes.
- Krukenberg - in the ovaries.
- Mary Joseph - in the navel.
Hematogenous metastasis usually occurs in the lungs, brain, kidneys, but much more often in the liver. Gastric cancer with metastases to the adrenal glands and pancreas is much less common.
The presence and number of pathological foci determines the type of surgery and medications,used during chemotherapy. The further prognosis and life expectancy of the patient also depend on this.
Diagnosis
Detecting stage 4 stomach cancer with metastases is not so difficult. But with the diagnosis of other stages of pathology, problems often arise. If the patient's history contains a large number of risk factors and a genetic predisposition, doctors resort to additional methods of examination.
- Analysis of feces for the presence of occult blood is the simplest diagnostic method that allows you to identify pathology even at the initial stages of development.
- Gastroscopy - makes it possible to carefully examine the mucous membrane of the digestive tract and perform a biopsy.
- Contrast fluoroscopy - allows you to identify many signs characteristic of a tumor in the stomach.
- Ultrasound of the abdominal organs - used to diagnose the neoplasm itself and metastases.
- CT - makes it possible to detect cancer, but is much more often used to detect metastases.
- Laparoscopy - used to detect small metastases in the abdominal cavity.
- A blood test for tumor markers is informative only in half of the cases.
Treatment of metastases and gastric cancer
At the first stage, surgery is most often performed - complete removal of the organ or its resection. This allows you to eliminate a number of symptoms, alleviate the condition of a person and increase the duration of his life.
Then removedaffected lymph nodes and organs in which metastases are found. After the intervention, if necessary, radiation or chemotherapy is performed.
It is not worth delaying the operation, especially if the patient has stomach cancer with grade 4 metastases. How long a person will live depends on how quickly the intervention was carried out, how much the lymph nodes and tumor were removed.
Features of the operation
Before the appointment of a surgical intervention, the patient must undergo all the necessary examinations: examination of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, assessment of the general state of he alth and the presence of contraindications. The amount of surgery depends entirely on the stage of stomach cancer.
- At stage 1, doctors usually manage to completely remove the tumor. During the intervention, a special study is carried out, which allows you to determine whether tumor particles remain. If necessary, the volume of the operation is increased.
- At stages 2 and 3, an organ is resected or completely removed. Often nearby lymph nodes are also removed - this is necessary to prevent metastasis.
- At stage 4 gastric cancer with metastases, treatment is carried out to normalize the patency of the digestive system and reduce the size of the neoplasm. Such an intervention does not lead to recovery, but significantly improves the quality of life of a sick person.
Nutrition for stomach cancer withmetastases
Immediately after determining the diagnosis, the doctor prescribes a therapeutic diet to the patient. Required for:
- h alt weight loss;
- reducing the risk of complications during the rehabilitation period;
- immunity boost;
- improve the body's regenerative abilities.
There are only a few rules for patients with stomach cancer:
- food should be baked, stewed or boiled;
- every day the menu should include fresh fruits, vegetables or juices from them;
- There should be 5-6 meals a day.
Diet may vary, depending on the stage of therapy. After undergoing chemotherapy, a person is advised to consume as much fresh fruit and juice as possible.
